Visit to Our Tokyo Family

We flew to Tokyo to spend two weeks with the Kurodas: Hiroko and Ren and the four children - Chikage (daughter, 10), Riku (son, 8) and the new twin boys, Naoya and Masaki.

Chikage, Riku, Anna, and Ren with the twins:

We went to a local street fair, and ate some great food; and Riku won a prize:

You need small fire engines to get down very narrow streets!

Just walkin' around town:

Yukata de Gin-bura Festival in Ginza:

To get at prizes frozen in ice and buried in snow, Riku had to work:

https://youtu.be/JS20ip_ON1o

https://youtu.be/dCHOU6Fb-d4

Anna with twins in a baby changing room:

At the mall in Roppongi Hills with Hiroko's parents, Masami and Kazuko.

Riku loves cars.  He took Masami into the driving simulator:

Refreshment time!

Oh, and did I mention Ren took Anna and me to train with the Spartans in Tokyo?

Our First Time Outdoor Rock Climbing

Taylor took us rock climbing at Pilot Mountain, North Carolina.  Anna and I found it very different from a climbing wall in a health club.

The View:  https://youtu.be/LchFg3qYRuY

An Anna Climb (very short videos):

https://youtu.be/vWox0b78_LE

https://youtu.be/SFTkX7HqqEg

https://youtu.be/sbdW1q-rwg8

https://youtu.be/KfLjiIPzvbU

https://youtu.be/vSLDEEjLSts

https://youtu.be/iPqGisz8DqM

A Myron Climb

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzLfdW7jsgW8R0tWM3VrOW1ia1k/view?usp=sharing

And sometimes, we didn't make it...

https://youtu.be/WgeLJnLwYbM

https://youtu.be/3m1Kwcndbao

The last look before we left:

Family Vacation in Akumal

Fifty miles south of Cancún, ten of us stayed in a beautiful house in Akumal for a week:

https://youtu.be/kZ3qy-JuWAg

http://www.i-akumal.com/villa-de-valhalla

We enjoyed the perfect temperature and sun – and tequila.  

We snorkeled, went scuba diving, and even drank tequila in a tree house at the restaurant/bar La Buena Vida on our street.

We visited Chichen Itza:

https://youtu.be/10h1wArsUcY

Lupe cleaned our house each day and chefs prepared two dinners for us:

Anna, Sean and Yulia visited a spa:

https://youtu.be/VWizsQT0w4Y

https://youtu.be/3MlGS2fLcrk

We rode bikes and golfcarts:

The sunrises were spectacular:

And did I mention tequila?

https://youtu.be/Fb8vfjU4ubU

https://youtu.be/wo9UkCyXGbk

https://youtu.be/BVhybA59HSc

Flowers and Soon, Tomatoes (maybe)

Our mailbox is pretty with iris and clematis.

And Anna has decided to plant tomatoes this season.  We bought an above ground enclosure and filled it with a mix of good soil and cow manure.  This is the south side of our house in Durham.

Prem's Birthday Dinner

Anna cooked Italian for Prem's birthday. Chris, Oma and Prem's parents helped us eat it all. Wonderful food and conversation.

All Alone at the Beach on the Last Day in March

At OBX for the weekend - beautiful weather and ocean.  No one else on the strand.

https://youtu.be/bp8D6JLEOn8

Now it's Myron's turn!

Today, Anna and I earned belay-certification at the rock climbing wall at our health club.  This is Myron's progress after completing his first week at the new sport.

https://youtu.be/hA_8zf9QUEI